Warriors' Andre Iguodala named to NBA's All-Defensive first team

Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala was named to the NBA's All-Defensive first team Monday, becoming only the second player in franchise history to earn first-team recognition.

"Nate Thurmond what up!" tweeted Iguodala, who became the Warriors' first player to make it since Thurmond did 43 years ago.

Iguodala, 30, was joined on this season's first team by Chicago's Joakim Noah, Indiana's Paul George, the Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Paul and Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka. One of Iguodala's 57 first-team votes (among 123 voters) came from new Warriors coach Steve Kerr, the former TNT broadcaster.

The 6-foot-6 Iguodala guarded multiple positions and led the NBA in the plus-minus category, averaging a +9.0 differential per game. He made the All-Defensive second team for the 2010-11 season when he was with Philadelphia.

Iguodala, who also finished fifth in the voting for the NBA's defensive player of the year award, became the first player to earn a spot on either team since Latrell Sprewell was named to the second team in 1993-94. Thurmond won first-team recognition for the 1968-69 and 1970-71 seasons.

Despite an injury-plagued first season with Golden State that left him sidelined for 18 games and factored into a decrease in offensive production, Iguodala led the Warriors' rise to the NBA's third-ranked team in defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions).